Articles Posted in Bus Accidents

In a recent Texas appellate case, the court considered whether there were enough facts to establish a waiver of the Arlington Independent School District’s immunity from suit under the Texas Tort Claims Act in a bus accident case. The case arose when a minor was standing inside a school bus aisle. The bus was going five miles per hour when the driver slammed on the brakes to avoid hitting another bus. The minor was thrown forward and hit the windshield.

The minor’s representative sued AISD on the grounds that the bus driver was negligent and had caused the daughter’s injuries and damages. The complaint stated that the trial court could hear this case because its sovereign immunity was waived for personal injury claims caused by negligent school bus drivers under § 101.021(1) of the Texas Civil Practice & Remedies Code. The trial court denied the school district’s motion for summary judgment, which argued there was no jurisdiction due to sovereign immunity.

The school district argued that the parent had not pled a claim that fell within the law’s limited immunity waiver for the use of a motor vehicle. Instead, it argued, the complaint just showed that the district had failed to supervise, direct, or control students riding the school bus. Prior case law stated that when claims have to do with the direction and supervision of students, there is no waiver of immunity. The allegations have to be related to the negligent use of a motor vehicle in order for the lawsuit to proceed.

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In Austin Independent School District v. Idolinda Salinas, a mother sued individually, as a next friend of her son, for injuries suffered by her son when he opened a back exit door and leaped from a moving school bus.

The son was a child with a disability going home on a District school bus. The bus passed his stop, so the son asked that the driver pull over to let him out, but the driver didn’t. The son tried to climb out a window, and when that didn’t work, he went to the back of the bus.

He stood at the back of the bus for a while and then opened a handle on the back door, which triggered a buzzer to alert the driver. The door opened, and the boy jumped out and suffered injuries. The bus driver only pulled over when she saw the boy on the ground.

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Buses are common carriers. If you are injured in a bus crash, you should be aware that usually their duty is higher to passengers than drivers of other vehicles. Although the duty is higher, liability is not automatic. In Mackey v. Midland-Odessa Transit, the defendant was a governmental entity that operated a public bus. The plaintiff was a representative of her sister’s estate. Her sister had died while a passenger on one of the defendant’s public buses.

In a plea to the jurisdiction, the defendant argued that it was immune from suit and that the plaintiff hadn’t shown that governmental immunity had been waived under the Texas Tort Claims Act. A plea to the jurisdiction is an assertion of immunity from suit due to the court’s lack of jurisdiction. The trial court granted the plea to the jurisdiction and dismissed the case.

The appellate court explained that sovereign immunity deprives a trial court of jurisdiction for lawsuits against governmental units unless there is consent to the suit. It found that the state had provided consent to be sued through Section 101.021 of the Texas Civil Practice & Remedies Code, which allows a governmental entity to be liable in a suit for personal injury or death proximately caused by an employee’s negligence in the scope of employment when the negligence arises from use of a motor-driven vehicle, the employee would be personally liable, and personal injury or death would, if the government were a private person, result in liability under Texas law.

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Last week, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administrationshut down 26 commercial curbside bus operations in six states due to purported safety hazards. Although the agency’s officials halter operations in Georgia, Indiana, Maryland, New York, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania, many of the 233 affected routes transported passengers along Interstate 95 between New York’s Chinatown district and Florida. The closure was the largest federal intervention in the industry.

The curbside bus industry has reportedly grown quickly over the past decade. Curbside bus companies utilize online ticket sales and do not operate out of terminals. Once a passenger has purchased a ticket, they are then picked up on a designated street corner. Curbside bus fares tend to be cheaper than other motor coach carriers due to fewer overhead costs and lower driver wages. According to federal investigators, curbside bus companies are involved in fatal accidents seven times more often than other commercial motor coach operators.

The closures followed a 12-month Safety Administration investigation of three curbside bus companies. All of the operations closed by the agency were part of a network operated by Apex Bus Inc., I-95 Coach Inc., or New Century Travel Inc. Only nine of the companies closed by federal authorities were actively in service. An additional 13 companies were operating without permission to transport passengers. 10 company employees, managers, and owners were also forbidden from engaging in any further passenger transportation operations. The order was reportedly issued to keep closed bus operators from simply beginning another curbside bus operation under a new name.

United States Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood stated the bus companies were closed in order to save lives on the nation’s roadways. He said the companies were bad actors that put passengers and motorists at risk. Secretary LaHood also advised Congress to pass legislation that would stop shuttered bus carriers from later reopening and allow the Safety Administration to regulate bus ticket sellers and brokers who don’t physically transport passengers. Dan Ronan, a spokesperson for the American Bus Association, applauded the federally mandated shutdowns.

According to federal investigators, each of the 26 carriers employed drivers who did not have a valid commercial driver’s license, failed to administer required driver alcohol and drug tests, and operated despite multiple safety regulation violations. The motor coaches used by the companies were allegedly not regularly inspected for safety hazards or repaired when necessary. Additionally, bus drivers reportedly failed to adhere to federal rest requirements.

The curbside bus investigation began in response to several fatal curbside bus accidents last year. In the United States, an estimated 700 million people travel via motor coach annually. According to the Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, 24 commercial bus crashes resulted in 34 deaths and 467 injuries in the U.S. in 2011. If you were involved in an unfortunate bus accident in Texas, it is a good idea to contact a skilled personal injury attorney to help you protect your rights.

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Pursuant to federal law, commercial vehicles such as motor coaches are required to be inspected at least once per year. The inspections, however, may be performed by the company that operates the vehicle, private garages, or state designated employees. Unfortunately, over half of all states in the U.S. do not specify inspection requirements and leave the matter up to the owner of the vehicle.

On March 14th, 2012, the U.S. Senate passed a bill that would require a federal evaluation of state commercial vehicle inspection programs, but the bill has not moved forward in the House of Representatives. The nation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has stated additional federal oversight of state commercial vehicle inspection programs is not currently necessary. The organization’s former head, John Hill, said the FMCSA simply does not have sufficient funding to begin monitoring state inspection programs.

Highway safety proponents believe there is a lack of oversight for companies that perform bus and other commercial vehicle inspections in many states. In fact, fatal bus crashes in Texas, Illinois and Mississippi recently caused the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) to call for better oversight of commercial vehicle safety inspections.

Following a 2008 bus crash that killed 17 people near Sherman, Texas, the NTSB cited a state-certified commercial vehicle inspection shop for passing the motor carrier eight days prior to the accident despite reportedly obvious mechanical and tire defects. The owners of the shop, 5 Minute Inspections, closed the company’s doors a few months later. In May 2010, however, the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) approved the owners’ application to open another commercial vehicle inspection business in the same neighborhood. According to state records, the new business is currently in good standing.

A spokesperson for DPS stated the issues raised by the NTSB following the crash did not merit action against 5 Minute Inspections although one of the owners has since been suspended for falsifying commercial vehicle inspection reports. DPS has also recently reorganized the more than 200 employees in its vehicle inspection support program.

Another Texas bus was involved in a fatal crash in Louisiana after striking a semi-truck parked on the side of the road. Although the NTSB stated the bus driver caused the crash, the semi was allegedly in such serious disrepair it never should have been on the roadway to begin with. The president of the trucking company performed the most recent inspection on the semi-truck six months prior to the crash.

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